1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a multi-axis movable X-ray apparatus and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, when a patient suffered internal injury or symptoms without a visible cause, doctors were forced to perform exploratory surgery to determine the extent of injury or the cause of the symptoms.
However, after Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen of Germany first developed X-rays, X-rays began to be employed for medical diagnosis. X-ray apparatuses are now used to non-invasively examine internal organs and bones, such as breast, head, digestive organs, and backbone, thereby serving as a facile diagnosis appliance.
X-rays are high-transmissivity electromagnetic waves emitted when matter is bombarded with fast electrons. An X-ray apparatus is designed such that an X-ray tube irradiates X-rays to an object, i.e. a target region of a human body placed between the X-ray tube and an X-ray film, thus imaging the target region via transmission of the X-rays.
The X-ray tube has 1˜3 degrees of freedom suitable to photograph various regions of a human body. For example, the X-ray tube may be installed to the ceiling so as to be movable vertically and horizontally in all directions, and may be vertically and horizontally moved to a target position by an operator who grips a handle of the X-ray tube.
When using the above-described X-ray apparatus, however, the operator must inconveniently manually position the X-ray tube to center the X-ray tube on the X-ray film, and moreover, moving the heavy and bulky X-ray tube may be very difficult and requires considerable exertion.
To improve usability, an automated X-ray tube, a drive shaft of which is equipped with a motor to enable automated movement of the X-ray tube, has been developed.
To move the automated X-ray tube to a target position, the operator presses a button while confirming a moved position of the X-ray tube and then, turns off the button at the target position, or the X-ray tube may be moved to the target position through input of coordinates.
The above-described automated X-ray tube has no function to be fully aware of the surrounding environment during movement and thus, has difficulty moving fast in view of safety, thus slowing the rate at which patients may be examined using the X-ray apparatus.
In addition, the greater the degrees of freedom, operating buttons corresponding to the respective degrees of freedom may be more difficult and only less intuitive operation may be performed than manually moving the X-ray tube by directly gripping the handle of the X-ray tube.